Look out Apple, tablet sales to slow

Sales growth for tablets is tipped to slow to 11 percent this year as two-in-one devices continue to enter the market.

The predicted slowdown in sales, forecast by Gartner, would see tablet sales growth fall from a high of 55 percent in 2013.

The trend is attributed to buyers choosing to keep tablets for longer as well as purchasing two-in-one devices. Gartner forecasts these hybrid devices will increase to 32 percent of the "ultramobile premium" category by 2018.

The largest growth is expected to be seen in shipments of Android devices - Gartner predicts shipments, including phones, to jump by more than 20 million in mature markets in 2015. 

Despite continued strong growth of Android, Apple is expected to post a significant, though smaller, increase in device shipments. Shipments of iOS and Mac OS devices are forecast to increase by closer to 14 million in mature markets in 2015.

"These devices will benefit from a controlled and integrated ecosystem, a focus on the user experience and a leading enterprise tablet position," the Garter report states.

Meanwhile, shipments of "traditional PCs" - defined by Gartner as desktop PCs and notebooks, but not ultramobiles - is expected to continue to fall, though at a slower rate. Shipments are predicted to fall by approximately 15 million worldwide in 2015, compared to a fall of nearly 20 million the year before.